DUBLIN — A rainbow flag supporting the LGBTQ community won’t be waving at Dublin City Hall.

But neither will flags supporting the National Rifle Association, Black Lives Matter or communism.

In other words, flags should honor city, state and country, but not causes or political persuasions, the Dublin City Council decided earlier this week.

Councilman Shawn Kumagai, the city’s first openly-gay elected councilman, triggered Tuesday’s debate when he urged his colleagues to issue a proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ pride month on behalf of the town’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer community and asked that a rainbow flag be allowed to wave above city hall to mark the occasion.

Although council members unanimously adopted the proclamation, they voted 3-2 against flying the rainbow flag, with Mayor David Haubert, Vice Mayor Melissa Hernandez and Councilman Arun Goel voting no. Among their concerns was setting a precedent for letting all kinds of flags be flown along with the U.S., state, and city flags already on the pole

Haubert said the community made it clear the flag pole was “sacred,” though he was open to other suggestions on how to support the LGBTQ community.

Had he still been on the council, Congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell told this news organization Friday he would have voted to let the rainbow flag fly.

“I would have voted to display it. Now more than ever, we must stand with the LGBTQ community, which is under attack by our commander in chief,” Swalwell said. “It’s important that progressive communities like Dublin stand in solidarity.”

Swalwell also posted a photo on his Twitter page in direct response to the council’s decision. He wrote “I fly these flags 365 days a year,” and posted a photo of the American flag outside his office in Washington, D.C. and the rainbow pride flag on his door.

Dublin is the latest East Bay city to consider flying the flag on city property, but may be the first to reject the notion directly. Other cities that have agreed to fly the flag on municipal property include Richmond, Concord and Pleasant Hill, Kumagai said. According to a Dublin city staff report, cities such as Antioch, Hayward and Livermore have policies stating which flags are allowed to fly at their civic centers and have not flown the rainbow flag.

But unlike in Walnut Creek where many speakers supported the rainbow flag, most of the approximately 15 speakers who attended the Dublin City Council meeting on Tuesday opposed the idea, saying it would set a bad precedent.

Several speakers said although the town is diverse and inclusive, displaying a rainbow flag could be “confusing” for children or be viewed as promoting a specific political agenda.

“They’re going to have a whole education about sex, whether three years-old or 18. Is that really fair to our kids? No, that’s not fair,” said a woman who identified herself as a former educator.

One man said he heard there’s been talk about adding a “P” to the LGBTQ acronym to stand for “pedophile.” He also spoke about transgender people, and how “we as parents have not given consent to this nonsense.”

Kumagai said in an interview he knew the topic was going to be a conversation starter.

“Of course I was disappointed a bit, but I wasn’t completely surprised,” he said. “This is an ongoing conversation we need to have within our city.”

In 2017, the city of Dublin delved into another hot issue — that of whether to declare itself a sanctuary city. Although some neighboring East Bay cities such as Fremont and Oakland declared themselves sanctuaries, Dublin did not.

Kumagai said he disagrees that raising a rainbow flag for one day or even a month would set a precedent or create a “slippery slope” because the council can review each item independently.

“There is no such thing as a slippery slope, that’s why we’re here. We’re here to make judgement calls,” he said.

Kumagai said he would welcome raising the topic again, especially if was community-driven.

In response to the council’s action, Kumagai said there’s been a tremendous grassroots effort online and in social media to get Dublin residents to raise their own rainbow flags and organize support of the LGBTQ community.

“It has raised awareness and also made people realize we can’t take the gains we’ve made for the LGBTQ community granted,” he said.

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